Camilo José Cela is one of Spain's leading novelists, specializing in satirical works of realism. He is best-known for The Family of Pascual Duarte although The Hive is considered his masterpiece. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
Early Years of Camilo José Cela
Cela was born in Iria Flavia, Spain, on May 11, 1916. His father, Camilo, was a customs officer and a part-time author, and his mother was Camila Emmanuela. When he was 17, Cela enrolled at the University of Madrid, but his education was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. After serving as a corporal in the fascist-controlled Nationalist Army, he resumed his studies, finally graduating at age 27. The following year, he married Maria del Rosario Conde Picavea but divorced in 1989, and remarried Marina Castano two years later.
Cela Writing Theme and Style
When he was 26, Cela published his first and most popular novel, The Family of Pascual Duarte, which has since been made into a film. The novel was labelled 'tremendismo,' a literary style he is credited with inventing. Tremendismo deals with the darker side of life and is often violent, which is intended to shock the reader. The violence of The Family of Pascual Duarte did shock, and the novel was briefly banned.
As Cela's work progressed, it became more experimental. His main aim was to change the way novels are written and his main concern was with the characters. In most books the important element is the story, told in correct date order – past, present, then future. In his masterpiece, The Hive, there are more than 300 characters, whose stories are told in snapshots, often loosely connected. In Toboggan of Hungry People, future and past events are mixed together with no specific order.
Awards and Honors
Cela's works introduced new literary ideas. He died of heart disease on January 17, 2002. Aside from his nobel prize in literature (1989), some of his awards and honors include Premio de la critica, for Historias de Venezuela: La Catira, 1955; Spanish National Prize for Literature for Mazurca para dos Muertos, 1984; Premio Principe de Asturias, 1987; Cervantes Prize, 1994; and some honorary doctorates from Syracuse University (1964), University of Birmingham (1976), University of Palma de Mallorca (1979), and John F. Kennedy University in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Works by Camilo José Cela
- The Family of Pascual Duarte, (La Familia de Pascual Duarte), novel, 1942
- Esas Nubes que Pasan, short stories, 1945
- Journey to the Alcarria (Viaje a la Alcarria), travelogue, 1948
- The Hive (La Colmena), novel, 1951
- Del Miño al Bidasoa, travelogue, 1956
- El Molino de Viento y Otras Novelas Cortas, short stories, 1956
- Mrs. Caldwell Speaks to Her Son, 1953
- Toboggan of Hungry People, 1962
- San Camilo 1936, novel, 1969
- Ministry of Darkness 5 (Ser Cantada por un Coro de Enfermos), 1973
- Mazurka for Two Dead Men (Mazurca para dos Muertos), novel 1983
- Nuevo Viaje a la Alcarria, travelogue, 1986
- Cristo Versus Arizona, novel, 1988
- La Cruz de San Andrés, novel, 1994
- Madera de Boj, novel, 1999
Sources:
Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)
Camilo Jose Cela Revisited: The Later Novels (World Author Series) by Janet Perez, Twayne Publishers (2000)
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